New York City, NY – Louis K. Meisel Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in Art Miami 2019. At this year’s fair, the gallery will proudly pay tribute to the California Pop artist Mel Ramos. Rarely-seen paintings spanning the 1960s to 1980s will be featured, including highlights from many of the major series in the artist’s career: the Female Super-Heroines (early 1960s), Beauty & the Beast (mid 1960s), the Commercial Pin-up images (late 1960s), Salute to Old Masters (early 1970s), the Drawing Lessons (1980s) and the Galatea series. 

This exhibition will serve as a mini-retrospective to the artist, providing a concise overview of his artistic career. To date, very few of these iconic vintage paintings have been viewed outside of Meisel’s premises, as many have long-been considered a part of the Meisel’s personal collection. From bashful to bold, these works will collectively show what made Ramos one of the most captivating and provocative painters of the American Pop Art movement. 

Mel Ramos is recognized for his iconic paintings of female nudes. Evolving from portraits of comic book heroines in the 1960s, Ramos’ later series humorously explored the idealization and depiction of the nude female form in art, fashion and advertising. His subjects were derived from both highbrow imagery, as in the case of his reinterpretations of historic artworks like Plenti-Grande Odalisque (1973), and lowbrow imagery as with his commercial paintings, which include Lucky Lulu Blonde (1964).

Ramos (1935-2018) spent six decades experimenting with Pop imagery and the female form. His work has been exhibited in countless solo exhibitions globally, and his paintings are in numerous permanent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art; and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, amongst others.

Art Miami will be held from December 3rd to the 8th, with the VIP Preview kicking off late afternoon on the 3rd. For further information about Louis K. Meisel Gallery’s booth, please contact: Louis K. Meisel or Elizabeth Harris at 212-677-1340 or [email protected].